As the industry accelerates its efforts to take full advantage of CTV’s rapid global growth, what are the main opportunities and benefits for advertisers? 

As connected TV (CTV) gradually dominates more and more of the TV landscape, new opportunities keep coming for advertisers. From Europe to APAC, the channel is seeing rapid worldwide growth and advertisers are certainly taking advantage of it. CTV dominates a huge portion of ad spend for digital video – it’s expected to rise by 12% this year, 32% faster than predicted for total media overall. 

To make the most of this opportunity, industry efforts to bolster adoption of programmatic CTV are ramping up. Ad tech companies Adform, Equativ, PubMatic, The Trade Desk, Cadent and Magnite very recently announced the launch of a joint initiative with the objective of accelerating the growth and adoption of programmatic TV within Europe. In collaboration with the Project X Initiative, the European Programmatic TV Initiative will examine factors holding back the development of programmatic TV across the region and work to tackle them. 

Pressing pause, we ask key industry members the main opportunities of CTV, how brands can make the most of it, and what benefits come about from leveraging CTV in an omni-channel environment. 

An opportunity for brands to enrich their current media plans 

Connected TV (CTV), also known as streaming TV, presents an opportunity for brands to enrich their current media plans by reaching incremental audiences at scale. Consumers now move seamlessly between screens and formats, and it is important that marketers take into account these new and dynamic behaviours.  

As audiences continue to migrate to internet-delivered TV viewing, forward-thinking brands are benefiting from the powerful combination of premium, long-form content and innovative reporting metrics. This combination allows brands to optimise their strategy, improving performance and making CTV a powerful component of modern digital advertising. 

The pace of innovation in CTV is not slowing down. Live event programming delivered programmatically opens up the historically unachievable big budget world of live sports and entertainment to new advertisers, bringing incremental revenues to the live programmers. New standards and technical capabilities mean the next generation of brands will be able to tap into opportunities never possible before.  

Cadi Jones, SVP Europe, Index Exchange

Consider your options before investing 

CTV is clearly one of the fastest-growth channels in Asia. As a brand, there are plenty of opportunities, but it's important to remember to consider various factors before investing in CTV.  As advertisers, it's tough to select which platform to advertise in, so here are three points to consider: Invest in OTT platforms that invest in the best technology, serve a better ad-experience and provide you with first-party data. Maximise reach across various channels, rather than being confined to what you might ‘believe’ are the top one or two players in the industry. Traffic numbers aren’t fully clean at this point, so use your better judgement and diversify your ad dollars.  

In a nutshell, CTV offers an immersive viewing experience (of course it does, you just watched Netflix last night didn’t you?), has the biggest screens, passive viewing, and guaranteed 100% video completion rates. So, if the platforms are asking for a premium, go ahead, you are paying for a quality ad product.

Raj Parekh, Vice President & Head Digital Sales, Mediacorp Pte Ltd (Singapore)

A huge opportunity for retailers and marketplaces 

The CTV opportunity is huge - most significantly for retail and marketplaces: These advertisers demand measurable outcomes and tangible ROI across the funnel. 

Thanks to CTV’s expansive inventory, they now have the ability to advertise on top-funnel content, leveraging the unique data from retailers to enable audience targeting while driving performance and outcomes across the entire sales funnel. This will enable retail media platforms to fine-tune CTV strategies, optimise ad creative and targeting parameters, and make placement decisions based on real-time data analytics.

As CTV takes a larger share of the commerce media landscape spotlight, its data-driven targeting is giving retailers and marketplaces a powerful tool to connect more effectively with specific audiences, enabling advertisers to engage the consumer throughout the funnel, while helping retailers build a larger ads business. With the integration of ML algorithms and programmatic CTV buying, there is a huge potential for highly targeted advertising opportunities that resonate with viewers at just the right moments.

Nikhil Raj, Chief Business Officer Retail Media, Moloco  

CTV adds a new level of dynamism to omni-channel strategies 

Connected TV brings a new level of dynamism to omni-channel marketing strategies, offering brands the ability to integrate their campaigns across multiple platforms seamlessly. One of the key benefits of CTV in an omni-channel environment is the enhanced targeting capabilities. Brands can reach specific demographics with tailored messages, ensuring that their advertising efforts are both relevant and engaging. 

Moreover, CTV provides valuable real-time insights into viewer behaviour, allowing brands to optimise their campaigns on-the-fly. This agility helps in fine-tuning the content to better match audience preferences, leading to higher engagement and conversion rates.

Digital Element can add value to CTV campaigns by providing precise geolocation data. This allows brands to localise their content effectively, delivering ads that resonate more deeply with regional audiences. Additionally, CTV is underpinned by the humble IP address, making it critical to the many facets of marketing strategies, accurate targeting, attribution, and ad fraud prevention.

Charlie Johnson, VP International, Digital Envoy, Digital Element  

CTV is the holy grail 

CTV is the holy grail for brands and content producers. Highly interactive and personalised video content with contextually relevant advertising reaching the perfect audience – what could be better. The new Free Ad Supported TV (FAST) phenomenon on CTV means thousands of new niche channels geared to specific interests like crime or travel provide the perfect environment for both engaging video content and relevant ads targeting these audiences. And FAST is affordable for brands that may not be able to pay for broadcast. CTV Out of Home presents another opportunity for brands. Captive audiences in bars, restaurants, doctors' offices, airports can watch and enjoy custom video programming with commercials that makes sense. Think about a luxury travel show with advertising from a luxury destination for travelers waiting in a private jet terminal. Pretty good, right?

Brian Cullinane, Chief Commercial Officer, Video Elephant